No. 105, 03 June 1992

SUCCESSOR STATES TO THE USSR
NEW RUSSIAN FIRST DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER. Vladimir Shumeiko has
been appointed first deputy prime minister of the Russian Government,
ITAR-TASS reported on 2 June. He will be in charge of industry
and supervise the work of two other deputy prime ministers. Georgii
Khizha and Viktor Chernomydrin. Shumeiko will also represent
the government in parliament. Prior to his recent appointment,
Shumeiko worked as deputy parliament chairman when the legislature
turned against the government. Contrary to the other first deputy
prime minister, Egor Gaidar, Shumeiko is an experienced production
leader. He had been director of a plant in Krasnodar and president
of the Confederation of the Union of Russian Businessmen. (Alexander
Rahr)
CHUBAIS APPOINTED DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER. Anatolii Chubais, the
head of the State Committee for Management of State Property
and close associate of the economic overlord, Egor Gaidar, has
been appointed deputy prime minister, ITAR-TASS reported on 1
June. Nezavisimaya gazeta on 2 June speculated that after the
recent appointment of two representatives of the military-industrial
lobby (Georgii Khizha and Viktor Chernomyrdin) to deputy prime
minister positions, the reformist camp within the government
had been reduced to Gaidar and Aleksandr Shokhin. Chubais's appointment,
however, indicated that Yeltsin is prepared to press ahead with
privatization in Russia. (Alexander Rahr)
PRIVATIZATION PLANS THREATENED. Anatolii Chubais told a Moscow
news conference on 2 June that conservative parliamentary deputies
are obstructing government plans for privatization, "Vesti,"
reported. He charged that the deputies were pressing for shares
in state enterprises to be sold only to the work collectives
of those enterprises. This would effectively exclude about one
half of the population from acquiring shares and "put in doubt
the very possibility of privatization and the entire reform process."
(Keith Bush)
YELTSIN THREATENS GORBACHEV? "Novosti" on 2 June, reported that
Russian President Boris Yeltsin's spokesman, Vyacheslav Kostikov,
had warned Mikhail Gorbachev over what he termed "dangerous and
intolerable comments" made by the former Soviet president in
an interview with Komsomolskaya pravda (29 May). Kostikov said
that "all legal measures" would be taken to halt Gorbachev's
criticism of the Russian president. Meanwhile, Gorbachev's spokesman,
Aleksandr Likhotal, noted that this episode only proves that
Gorbachev's opinion on the danger of authoritarianism within
the Yeltsin administration is entirely justified. In an interview
with "Novosti" later that night, however, Gorbachev said that
he believed Yeltsin was unaware of Kostikov's statement and that
the sole purpose of his remarks was to rally reformist forces.
(Julia Wishnevsky)
RUSSIAN TV COVERAGE OF THE FEUD. In a departure from its usual
position, "Novosti" openly sided with Gorbachev over Yeltsin's
criticism. Tatyana Mitkova, the anchor of the evening newscast,
quoted from Gorbachev's interview with Komsomolskaya pravda and
added that such criticism "entirely corresponded with the policy
of glasnost and pluralism" that Gorbachev had initiated. By contrast,
none of the day's four editions of the second channel's newscast,
"Vesti," even mentioned the episode. (Julia Wishnevsky)
UKRAINIAN PARLIAMENT DENOUNCES RUSSIAN "INTERFERENCE" IN CRIMEAN
ISSUE. . . On 2 June, the Ukrainian parliament declared that
a recent statement by the Russian parliament that the transfer
of Crimea from the Russian Federation to Ukraine in 1954 was
illegal "has no legal significance and no legal consequences
for Ukraine," Ukrinform-TASS and Reuters reported. Condemning
Russian claims to the peninsula as interference, the resolution
adopted by the Ukrainian parliament also rejected the idea of
negotiating with Moscow on Crimea's status because the latter
is an integral part of Ukraine. (Bohdan Nahaylo)
. . . AND RUSSIAN "CHAUVINISM." Ukrinform-TASS reported that
during the Ukrainian parlia-ment's discussion on Russia, the
deputy chairman of the Ukrainian parliament, Vasyl Durdinets,
charged Russia with pursuing a policy of "pressure by force"
and "unconcealed political dictat" towards independent Ukraine.
He accused the Russian parliament of violating the Helsinki Accords
and the existing bilateral treaty between Ukraine and Russia,
and in this way, undermining peace and stability in Europe generally.
The Ukrainian parliament voted to adopt a separate statement
in which "attempts" by the Russian parliament to pursue a policy
towards Ukraine "based on Russian national-chauvinism" and the
mentality of "the elder brother" were condemned. (Bohdan Nahaylo)
UKRAINE CALLS FOR FREEZE ON ASSETS OF FORMER USSR. In a further
expression of Ukrainian annoyance and frustration with Russia,
the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry called on foreign governments
to freeze all former Soviet assets taken over by Russia, Reuters
reported on 2 June. Ukrainian foreign office officials pointed
out that ever since the USSR collapsed, Ukraine has been pressing
Russia to divide up the former Soviet embassies and other property
abroad among all the other former Soviet republics. Russia, which
unilaterally took over these assets, has agreed to discuss this
subject but in practice continues to stall. (Bohdan Nahaylo)
RUSSIA SEEKING TO KEEP UKRAINE AND ROMANIA OUT OF NEGOTIATIONS
ON MOLDOVAN CONFLICT. The Moldovan foreign minister, Nicolae
Tiu, told journalists before setting off for talks in Moscow
that "Russia is attempting to exclude Ukraine and Romania from
the process of regulating the conflict in the Trans-Dniester
region and to conduct the negotiations with Moldova on a bilateral
basis," Radio Ukraine reported on 2 June 1992. Ukraine supports
Moldova and Romania in insisting that the Russian 14th Army be
withdrawn from the "Dniester republic." (Bohdan Nahaylo)
MOLDOVAN PRESIDENT ACCUSES MOSCOW OF MISUSE OF CIS. Addressing
the people of Moldova on TV on 1 June, as cited by Moldovapres,
Moldovan President Mircea Snegur denounced "those who are trying
to make Moldova into a base for continuing the imperial games
of the former Union and its legal successor, Russia." While Moldova
and other states "regarded the CIS as a means for discarding
the former Soviet empire in a peaceful and civilized way, Moscow
seeks to use the CIS as a new form of the USSR and to install
pro-Moscow governments... Resenting our independent course,"
Snegur noted, "Moscow uses separatist movements as a means for
pressing Moldova into changing its course and for installing
a pro-Moscow regime in Chisinau." Snegur recalled that the former
USSR central authorities had unsuccessfully used similar tactics
against Moldova. (Vladimir Socor)
ANOTHER WARNING BY GAGAUZ. In its third warning to Chisinau in
the past week, the self-styled "Gagauz Republic Supreme Soviet"
appealed to Russia to include the Gagauz issue on the agenda
for negotiations regarding the future of the "Dniester republic."
"Any attempt to ignore the will of the Gagauz people could lead
to a large-scale conflict," the appeal warned, adding that there
were now "three independent republics in place of the former
Moldovan Soviet Socialist Republic." CIS TV gave the appeal prominent
coverage, Moldovapres reported on 31 May. On 1 June, CIS TV also
reported from Tiraspol on an alleged "congress of Moldovans in
the Dniester republic" at which the Moldovans were said to have
unanimously called for the secession of the Dniester region from
Moldova, Moldovapres reported. (Vladimir Socor)
RUSSIAN STRIKES CALLED OFF. Workers in several regions of Russia
had threatened to walk off their jobs unless they were paid (see
the RFE/RL Daily Report of 2 June). Spokesmen for the Kuzbass
coal miners and the nuclear industry employees in Krasnoyarsk-26
told Reuters on 2 June that no major strikes were under way.
A railway car carrying cash for the workers had arrived at Krasnoyarsk,
while money for oil workers in Tyumen was reported to be on its
way. The head of the workers' committee at Novokuznetsk blamed
ex-CP officials for using strike calls to disrupt reforms. (Keith
Bush)
KOKOSHIN VISITS TULA. Russian First Deputy Defense Minister Andrei
Kokoshin, along with a group of generals and military experts,
left for the city of Tula on 2 June, Radio Mayak reported. The
purpose of the visit was reportedly to confer on the problem
of conversion with leaders of defense enterprises in the city,
which is the center of one of Russia's major defense industrial
regions. Kokoshin oversees relations between the Russian Defense
Ministry and the defense industrial sector. (Stephen Foye)
FUEL PRICE RISE TO BE DELAYED? President Yeltsin reiterated his
appeal to the oil and gas industries to delay raising the prices
for their products, ITAR-TASS and Interfax reported on 2 June.
He said that immediate price increases would be a serious blow
both to families, already suffering under market reforms, and
to the agricultural sector. Yeltsin has on several occasions
implicitly and explicitly accused the IMF of advocating an immediate
liberalization of wholesale prices for energy carriers. Yet the
published studies and statements of the Fund acknowledge that
an overnight transition to world prices would have a disastrous
impact on most of Russian industry, and have recommended a step-by-step
adjustment. (Keith Bush)
NUCLEAR POWER PROGRAM REVIVED. A Russian government directive
of 26 March ordered the resumption of construction of nuclear
power plants and the increase of existing capacity, according
to Komsomolskaya pravda of 2 June, as reported by Western agencies.
The circular, signed by Egor Gaidar, termed the nuclear power
program a top priority for 1992. Construction of new nuclear
plants had effectively been halted after the Chernobyl explosion,
and the Gaidar directive was signed two days after the accident
at the Sosnovy Bar reactor near St. Petersburg. (Keith Bush)
LAST CONGRESS OF THE USSR WRITERS UNION OPENS. The Ninth Congress
(expected to be its last) of the USSR Writers Union opened in
Moscow on 2 June. The Congress agenda includes dividing up the
assets of the Union and its Literary Fund among the respective
republican organ-izations. Although the Union has been subdivided
into at least four different organizations since last August's
coup attempt, it remains the only major all-Union organization
to have survived for so long. Despite the Union's reputation
for scandal, according to Russian TV, the first day at the Congress
was unusually calm. (Julia Wishnevsky)
FOKIN UNDER FIRE AGAIN. Ukrainian Prime Min-ister Vitold Fokin
has come under renewed fire in the Ukrainian parliament for not
proceeding rapidly and decisively enough with economic reform.
Accor-ding to Reuters, about one third of the Ukrainian parliament's
deputies have signed a motion of no confidence in Fokin, and
on 2 June around 2,000 people demonstrated before the parliament
calling for his resignation. Some democratic deputies, like Vyacheslav
Chornovil, say they would prefer President Leonid Kravchuk to
take charge of the government himself. (Bohdan Nahaylo)
KRAVCHUK TO VISIT FRANCE. According to Ukrainian foreign office
officials, Ukrainian President Leonid Kravchuk will visit France
next week, Reuters reported on 2 June. That same day, a "Days
of France" festival opened in Kiev (Bohdan Nahaylo)
DRAFT EVADERS IN BELARUS. Radio Mayak reported on 2 June that
some 2,400 Belarusian conscripts have to date failed to appear
at military collection points in what is the first draft conducted
by the independent Belarusian armed forces. Evidence of continued
draft avoidance has been seen in other republics as well, despite
the creation of national armies. (Stephen Foye)
AZERBAIJAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE WITHDRAWS. Etibar Mamedov,
the chairman of the Azerbaijan National Independence Party, has
withdrawn his candidacy for the 7 June presidential elections,
alleging that the ballot and a ban on political demonstrations
passed by the Azerbaijani parliament last week are unconstitutional,
Western agencies reported on 2 June. (Liz Fuller)
11-nation pre-liminary peace talks on the Nagorno-Karabakh crisis
that opened in Rome on 1 June are in jeopardy because of the
unexplained absence of an Armenian delegation from Nagorno-Karabakh
and Azerbaijan's querying of the principle of holding the peace
conference in Minsk under CSCE auspices, an Italian diplomat
told Western media on 2 June. Agreement was reached, however,
on basic areas for discussion, including recent territorial gains
by Armenian forces, the Armenian-Azerbaijani border and dispatching
observers to the region. (Liz Fuller)
KAZAKHSTAN ADOPTS DRAFT CONSTITUTION. Kazakhstan's Supreme Soviet
adopted a draft constitution on its first reading, KazTAG-TASS
reported on 2 June. In a concluding statement, President Nursultan
Nazarbaev, who chaired the commission that drew up the draft,
noted that adoption was eased by a compromise on the language
issue that retained Kazakh as the state language but promised
free development to all others. The previous day he had told
the legislature that the new constitution would guarantee political
pluralism, but complained that the unregistered Kazakh nationalist
parties, Alash and Jeltoqsan, and the Cossack movement have been
causing instability. (Bess Brown)
CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE
BOSNIA UPDATE, MILITARY INTERVENTION HINTED. Radio Bosnia-Herzegovina
reports on 2 June that a UN-escorted relief convoy was ambushed
on the outskirts of Sarajevo by Serb militia, killing one driver
and wounding several others. Serb forces continued to shell Sarajevo
despite another appeal by the Yugoslav State Presidency to stop
the bombardment and hand over control of Sarajevo airport to
UN representatives. This latest Serb action is yet another indication
that several paramilitary units in Bosnia are acting independently
of Belgrade. Radio Croatia reports on 2 June that several European
leaders at a WEU meeting said military intervention might be
needed to stop the fighting if the UN sanctions do not work.
German Foreign Minister Klaus Kinkel emphasized that military
intervention should be a last resort. Portuguese Prime Minister
Anibal Cavaco Silva, the current EC president, said that if military
action is needed it would have to be under UN auspices. British
Foreign Minister Douglas Hurd cautioned that it is easier in
theory than in practice to "impose a peace by force." (Milan
Andrejevich)
SANCTIONS COULD TRIGGER CIVIL WAR IN SERBIA. A statement released
on 2 June by the key coalition Democratic Movement of Serbia
(DEPOS) warns that the UN sanctions could result in civil war
among Serbs. The statement also said the current Socialist regime
has pushed the Serbian people into a humiliating position and
"inflicted one of the most serious historical defeats on Serbia."
Radio Serbia reports that gasoline prices have doubled and food
prices have risen sharply. Borba reported on 2 June that ration
coupons are being printed for cooking oil, flour, sugar, coffee,
and detergent. Many stores are already reporting shortages. On
2 June Croatia ordered a ban on all ships sailing under the Yugoslav
flag from sailing into Croatian territorial waters and ordered
all Croatian firms to discontinue business and commercial trade
with Yugoslavia, except for relief goods. (Milan Andrejevich)
BULGARIA'S GROWING CONCERN OVER YUGOSLAV CRISIS. During the visits
of US Deputy Secretary of State Lawrence Eagleburger and Macedonian
Foreign Minister Denko Maleski on 29-30 May, President Zhelev
was quoted by BTA as telling both visitors that he hopes European
organizations can find ways to contain violence in former Yugoslavia
and prevent it from spreading. Foreign Minister Ganev said on
TV he had discussed various possibilities with Eagleburger, including
the use of NATO forces as an instrument of the CSCE. On 1 June
Prime Minister Dimitrov, visiting the Netherlands, also voiced
concern that the conflict might spread and repeated Bulgaria's
call for international observers on its borders with Macedonia
and Serbia. (Rada Nikolaev)
BULGARIA SUPPORTS SANCTIONS AGAINST SERBIA. Foreign Minister
Stoyan Ganev was quoted by Demokratsiya on 2 June as saying that
Bulgaria "will adhere to" the sanctions imposed by the UN on
Serbia, a formulation that appears to avoid speaking of formally
joining the measures. Ganev said that any damage that countries
applying the sanctions might suffer would be trifling compared
with the devastation that a military conflict in the region would
cause. 24 chasa of 2 June says overflights by planes to and from
Serbia and Montenegro have been prohibited but that flights by
foreign airlines over Bulgaria have increased by 10-15% because
of the embargo. Trud estimates that if the embargo lasts for
five months Bulgaria stands to lose about $100 million. (Rada
Nikolaev)
HUNGARY WON'T JOIN MILITARY INTER-VENTION. Defense Minister Lajos
Fur told reporters that Hungarian troops will not take part in
possible UN-sponsored military intervention in Yugoslavia, MTI
reports on 2 June. Fur said that troops in the border area have
not been mobilized but continue to be kept at "an appropriate
level of alert." A Foreign Ministry spokesman said that the government
is closely watching the situation of the ethnic Hungarian minority
in Vojvodina and hopes that no action will be taken against them
because of Hungary's support for UN sanctions. On 2 June Serbian
truck drivers blockaded a major border crossing between Vojvodina
and Hungary for over six hours in retaliation for Hungary's adhering
to the UN sanctions. A Hungarian government resolution issued
the same day ends freight traffic between Hungary and Serbia
and Montenegro. Hungary has already suspended air links with
those countries. (Edith Oltay)
ON ELECTIONS IN CZECHOSLOVAKIA. In a TV address on 2 June President
Vaclav Havel called on the 11.3 million voters to pick candidates
who "are ready to look for a truly just way for coexistence of
the Czech and Slovak nations." He added that "by deciding today
about our own future, we are indirectly also deciding about the
future of Europe," Reuters reports. On 2 June Czechoslovakia
complained to Hungary about Hungarian TV broadcasts interfering
in the Czechoslovak election campaign. The complaint involves
Miklos Duray, chairman of the Czechoslovak political movement
Egyutteles, who is accused of using Hungarian TV to "promote
his own ideas and attack other parties," an RFE/RL correspondent
reports. On 2 June a Slovak Radio spokesman said that only three
minutes after polling stations close on 6 June, the final day
of the parliamentary elections, Slovak Radio will release first
estimates of the election results in that republic. (Peter Matuska)
PRAGUE ARCHBISHOP DEFENDS RETURN OF CHURCH PROPERTY. On 2 June
in an interview with Prace Prague Archbishop Miloslav Vlk said
the Church's difficulties in reclaiming confiscated property
cast a "shadow across Czechoslovakia's commitment to democracy."
In April parliament rejected a draft law on property restitution
to churches and religious communities arguing that if land were
returned collective farms would suffer and agricultural production
would fall. Vlk said about half of the country's population declare
themselves Roman Catholics, which means that "Church property
belongs literally to half the inhabitants of the country." He
added that in view of the Church's charitable works, a return
of Church property would benefit the whole population. (Peter
Matuska)
PRAGUE WEEKLY LISTS 130 FORMER StB MEMBERS. On 2 June Reflex
published a list of 130 officers of the former communist regime's
secret police (StB)--most with photographs--who were responsible
for what was then called "the fight against the enemy within."
It also published a chart explaining for the first time the country's
former secret police apparatus. Reflex said that before the 1989
revolution there were 683 senior officers in the StB. The paper
said it had published the names "in order to single out those
who worked for evil" to prevent any "return to evil," and it
promised to seek out and publish thousands of other names of
those who had worked for the StB since 1948. (Peter Matuska)
CONTROVERSY OVER AGENTS CONTINUES IN POLAND. On 2 June President
Lech Walesa asked Ombudsman Tadeusz Zielinski and the Helsinki
Committee in Poland for opinions on a parliamentary resolution
to publicize the names of former communist agents. Former labor
minister Jacek Kuron said that naming officials who worked with
former secret police would lead to false identifications. He
told Gazeta wyborcza on 2 June that some 45,000 people at all
levels of government would be affected by such an action and
that state activities would be brought to a standstill. Meanwhile,
Janusz Korwin-Mikke, leader of the Union of Real Politics, said
he was guided by "moral, not political principles" in proposing
the resolution to the Sejm. Western and Polish wire services
carried the story. (Wladyslaw Minkiewicz)
KPN WITHDRAWS SUPPORT FOR OLSZEWSKI'S GOVERNMENT. Leszek Moczulski,
leader of the Confederation for Independent Poland (KPN), told
again Prime Minister Olszewski that he wants the government to
abandon reform policies and take radical steps to combat recession,
even at the cost of increased inflation. Speaking on Radio Z
Moczulski said "our demands are one package and there can be
no compromise on them." Olszewski's minority government, although
desperately seeking to survive a no-confidence vote this week,
rejected KPN's demands. After talks between the two sides on
2 June, Moczulski said the KPN will vote against governmental
draft budget. Olszewski told newsmen that conditions presented
by the KPN were unacceptable. KPN support is crucial since its
51 deputies hold the balance of power in the Sejm, PAP and Reuters
report. (Wladyslaw Minkiewicz)
ESTONIANS FAVOR COALITION PARTY. The Coalition Party, comprising
a number of former and current government ministers, remains
the most popular political movement among ethnic Estonians, according
to the latest EMOR opinion poll published in Rahva Haal of 3
June. The only four parties more popular with Russian-speakers
than with Estonians were all leftist: the Estonian Communist
Party; the Free Estonia coalition --made up of former commu-nist
functionaries; the Russian Democratic Union; and former Prime
Minister Edgar Savisaar's leftist-nationalist Peoples' Center
Party. (Riina Kionka)
HUNGARIAN CONSTITUTIONAL COURT RULING ON MINORITY LAW. On 2 June
the Hungarian Constitutional Court ruled that parliament should
adopt a law on minority rights by 1 December 1992, MTI reports.
The court said that parliament's failure to adopt such a law
after the multiparty elections amounts to "negligence," since
under the constitution ethnic minorities in Hungary "share in
the power of the people and are [state] constituent elements,"
which makes it imperative that their rights be prescribed by
law. The court stressed that minorities' parliamentary representation
in particular must be legally guaranteed. The government had
prepared a draft law on minority rights earlier but it was rejected
by minority representatives as inadequate. (Edith Oltay)
JURKANS RETAINS LATVIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY. On 2 June Foreign Minister
Janis Jurkans presented basic concepts of Latvia's foreign policy,
stressing the need to address issues both to the east and west
of Latvia. The concepts, worked out by the ministry, were sharply
criticized by the deputies, but a call by 24 deputies for a vote
of no confidence was rejected by the Supreme Council. Many deputies
did not support the proposal essentially because they do not
want to destabilize further the already precarious political
situation, BNS reports. (Dzintra Bungs)
SWEDEN TO REPAY BALTIC GOLD. On 2 June the Swedish parliament
voted to pay Estonia and Lithuania 275 million kronor ($47.4
million) in compensation for deposits of their gold--2.9 tons
and 1.25 tons, respectively--handed over by Sweden to the USSR
in 1940. Reuters reports that the repayment will be taken out
of an already planned 3 billion kronor ($515 million) three-year
aid package for Eastern Europe, the main recipients being Poland,
the Baltic States, and Russia's St. Petersburg region. Lithuania
had argued that the repayment should be the top item of the aid
program. The Swedish government will begin talks over when and
how the compensation will be paid. Estonia prefers to be paid
in gold as a symbol of the continuity between the current state
and the prewar Republic of Estonia. (Saulius Girnius)
LATVIAN RUBLE EMISSION LIMITED. Bank of Latvia president Einars
Repse told Diena on 1 June that the emission of the Latvian ruble
is proceeding according to plan and will be limited. Should the
government ask for the emission of additional banknotes in an
effort to cover a budget deficit, he would resist such requests,
he said, adding that the Latvian ruble is now being widely accepted
in Latvia. (Dzintra Bungs)
ESTONIAN CURRENCY PRINTED ABROAD. Estonia's new currency, the
kroon, was produced in the United States and the UK, Rahva Haal
eports on 3 June. The one- and two-kroon bills were printed by
United States Banknote International, and 10-, 25-, 100-, and
500-kroon notes by Thomas de la Rue and Company, Ltd. (Riina
Kionka)
WORLD BANK APPROVES LOAN FOR ROMANIA. The World Bank has approved
a $400 million structural adjustment loan to assist Romanian
economic reforms. A bank spokesman in Washington said that the
loan is designed to support the Romanian government's economic
stabilization efforts "while maintaining the momentum of price
liberalization and the progressive opening of the economy," an
RFE/RL correspondent reports. The loan was prepared along with
a $440-million credit approved on 1 June by the IMF. (Crisula
Stefanescu)
SWEDISH FIGHTER PLANES FOR HUNGARY. According to a Hungarian
radio report of 1 June 1992, SAAB spokesman Jan Algrin confirmed
that Hungary wants to purchase 26 JAC-29 fighter planes. The
intention was expressed by Hungarian International Economic Minister
Bela Kadar during his May visit to Stockholm. The total price
of the new planes is reportedly to 65 billion forint (about $870
million). The Hungarian purchase of the Swedish jets would the
first confirmed transaction in which a former communist country
made a major purchase of Western military equipment. (Karoly
Okolicsanyi) [As of 1200 CET] Compiled by Carla Thorson & Charles
Trumbull
(END)
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